§ 56. Mr. Leadbitterasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the latest estimate of the total cost to the United Kingdom arising from the closure of the Suez Canal; what added costs have been met by British shipping; and what losses have been borne by the owners of the ships held up in the Canal.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsIt was estimated that the effects on the balance of payments of the situation in the Middle East and Nigeria might have been something under £100 million in July-December, 1967. The cost has certainly been running at a much lower rate this year. But as world trade adapts itself to the present situation, it becomes increasingly unrealistic to quantify this, in isolation from all the other factors currently affecting our overseas earnings and payments.
167WIt is not possible to make a separate estimate of the total costs to the balance of payments of the effects on British shipping arising from the closure of the Suez Canal, but the loss to the owners of the four British ships held up in the Canal may have been of the order of £1 million.